Method of and means for holding knitted swimsuit blanks flat



p 1961 E. D. ESTEPHANIAN METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR HOLDING KNITTED SWIMSUIT BLANKS FLAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 30, 1960 INVENTOR. ESTEPHAN D. ESTEPHAN IAN ATTOR N EYS Sept. 5, 1961 E. D. ESTEPHANIAN 2,998,630

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR HOLDING KNITTED SWIMSUIT BLANKS FLAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 30, 1960 INVENTOR. ESTEPHAN D. EST EPHAN IAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR HOLDING KNITTED SWIMSUIT BLANKS FLAT 'Estephan D. Estephanian, Worcester, Mass, assignor'to Knitting Mills, Inc., Manchester, NE, a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Nov. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 72,695 8 Claims. (Cl. 26-54) This invention relates to a method of and means for holding flat a knitted fabric of varying width, and more especially a one-piece, seamless front panel for a woman's swimsuit in which three-dimensional breast cups are formed by the knitting operations alone, without cutting. or stitching. For ornamenting a swimsuit or the like with designs, the well-known silk screen method may be em-. ployed. The use of this method requires that the fabric be flat or. planar. Heretofore ornamental designs have been imprinted on swimsuit panels having breast cups made by cutting and stitching the fabric, the printing being done prior to the stitching operations when the fabric was planar but printing could not successfully be done on swimsuit panels having three-dimensional breast cups formed in the fabric as a part of the original knitting operation. To flatten a panel such as this, it has been necessary to stretch it strongly in all directions and to pin down the edges much as a hide is staked. This procedure is wholly impractical for comrnercial production. According to the present invention a method of and apparatus for properly stretching seamless three-dimensional front panels for womens swimsuits into a planar condition without undesirable distortion are hereinafter described- Such apparatus can be made to operate on a single swimsuit panel or. on a series of panels joined end to end. In either case the operation is rapid Patented Sept. '5, 1961 FIGURE 5 is a section, on a larger scale, on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2. T

A board on which a swimsuit panel 12 or series of such panels is to be stretched'flat is mounted on any suitable support such as a table top 14. The board 10 is preferably covered with cloth 16 over a top pad 18 to give it a soft top surface on which the swimsuit panel may hear. I

The board 10 is of varying width in accordance with the desired stretched contours of the swimsuit panels;

these contours being sinuous and mutually symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal center line of the board;

Fastened to the table top 14 ata uniform distance from each edge of the board 10 is a member 22 of a slide fastener preferably of the zipper type to be joinedto a complemental fastener member 24 which is stitched bers 22 and are ready to be basted to the edge of swim suit panels which are to be mounted on the board. In the knitting operation by which the panels are made, the machine makes marks 30 in the edges of the panels to indicate points of maximum and minimum widths of 1 the panels. Since the panels as they come from the knit gated fastener devices consisting of two fabric tapes 'carrying 'closelyspaced complemental fastening. elements which are quickly 'connectable and disconnectable." A fastening device of this type is the well-known zipper. One of the tapes of a zipper is temporarily stitched or otherwise secured to one selvage of the panel or series of panels in such a way that the marks on the tape coincide with the corresponding marks on the selvage. A tape of another zipper is similarly secured to the other selvage of the panel or panels. A horizontal table of suitable dimensions is providedon which is mounted an elongated board having side edges contoured to theshape to which the swimsuit blank or series of blanks is to be stretched. The mating members of the zippers are secured to the table and uniformly spaced from the respective edges of the board. Joining the members of each of the zippers causes the panel or panels to be held fiat and in properly stretched condition on the board.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following description thereof and to the drawings, of which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention, a portion being broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view, on a larger scale, of the elements mounted on the table shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a board on which a swimsuit panel is to be stretched, a member of one of the slide fasteners, and a fragment of a swimsuit panel; and

ting machine are usually curled and distorted, the marks 30 are a great help in the step of basting fastener mem bers properly to the side edges of the panel so that the marks 28 on the fastener members will be located. at

' the points of maximum and minimum width of the panel.

When fastener members have been thus secured along the ledges of the panel or panels, they are zipped to the members 22 which are secured to the table top. This op-. eration stretches the panel or panels transversely so that they assume the approximate proportions they will have when in the finished garments. 'In order to avoid undee sirable' longitudinal contraction of the'panels when'they.

' are being stretched transversely, each end of the panel or series of panels is first caught on tenter hooks 32 mounted on the table top near the ends of the board. Then the fastener members 24 which are along the side edge of the panel or panels are zipped to the members 22. The panels are thus stretched flat and are ready for the application of ornamentation. If a silk screen process is to be employed for the application of designs to the panels, it is desirable to mount marginal boards 36 on the table alongside of the board 10 which carries the panels. These marginal boards are of substantially the same thickness as the board 10 and are contoured so that the inner edge 38- of each follows the contour of the board 10 and is closely and uniformly spaced therefrom. The contoured edge of each marginal board is bevelled, as indicated in FIGURE 3, to provide room for the fastener members 22, 24. The marginal boards provide surfaces which are flush with the surface of the panels on the board 10 to facilitate the use of silk screens or other apparatus for applying ornamental designs to the panels. After such treatment, the panels can quickly be removed from the board and given other treatments such as washing or steaming, after which they can easily be remounted on the board.

The fastener members 24 can be removed from the borders of the panels after the treatments have been completed and can then be b-asted to the side margins of another series of panels.

I claim:

1. The method of stretching a piece of fabric to a predetermined shape for the purpose of treating said fabric in stretched condition which comprises attaching along at least two edges of the piece a series of fastener elements, securing to a fixed support corresponding series of mating elements arranged in contours similar to desired contours of the fabric when stretched, and joining the series of elements on the fabric to the mating elements on the support.

2. The method described in claim 1, plus the steps of treating the stretched fabric, subsequently removing the fabric and its fastener elements from the mating elements, detaching the temporarily attached fastener elements from the fabric, temporarily attaching the same fastener elements to another piece of fabric and subjecting this piece to the same stretching process.

3. The method of stretching to a predetermined flat shape a piece of fabric having three-dimensional surface contours when unstressed for the purpose of treating said fabric in stretched condition, said method comprising attaching along at least two edges of the fabric a series of fastener elements, securing to a fixed support corresponding series of mating elements arranged in contours similar to desired contours of the fabric when stretched, and joining the series of elements on the fabric to the mating elements on the support.

4. The method of stretching to a predetermined fiat shape wider than-its unstressed width a knitted selvaged fabric of varying width for the purpose of treating said fabric in stretched condition, which comprises temporarily attaching to each selvage of the fabric a series of fastener elements with predetermined elements thereof at points of maximum and minimum width of the fabric, and joining the elements of said series to corresponding mating elements mounted in prearranged array on a support and spaced apart by distances greater than the width of the unstressed fabric and attached fastener elements at corresponding points.

5. The method of stretching to a predetermined flat shape a panel of a swimsuit having three-dimensional surface contours for the purpose of treating said panel in stretched condition, said panel being of varying width when in properly stretched condition, said method comprising securing to a rigid support one member of each of two slide fastener devices, said members being arranged to follow the respective side contours of the stretched shape of said panel, marking on the mating members of said slide fastener devices the points at the maximum and minimum widths of the stretched shape of the panel, temporarily attaching said mating members of the devices to the side edges of the panel so that said marks are at the points of maximum and minimum width of the panel, and joining said mating members of the devices to the corresponding secured members of the devices to stretch the panel to shape.

6. Apparatus for stretching a piece of fabric to a predetermined shape, comprising a support, a board mounted on said support, said board having side edges shaped to the stretched form of said piece of fabric, a slide fastener device secured to said support along each said side edge of the board, each said device comprising two mutually detachable members one of which is secured to said support, the other member of each device having marks thereon opposite predetermined points of said edges of the board.

7. Apparatus as described in claim 6, and flanking boards on said support on either side of said shaped board, each said flanking board having its upper surface substantially flush with the upper surface of the shaped board and a side edge near to the adjacent side edge of the shaped board, said side edge of each said flanking board being cut away below the top face to provide room for the slide fastener members which are attached to said support.

8. Apparatus for stretching a knitted swimsuit panel with knitted three-dimensional surface contours to a predetermined shape, comprising a support, a board mounted on said support, said board having side edges shaped to the stretched form of the panel, a slide fastener device secured to said support along each side edge of said board, each said device comprising two mutually detachable members one of which is secured to said support uniformly spaced from the adjacent side edge of the board, the other member of each device having marks thereon opposite the points of maximum and minimum width of said board.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,209,520 Hamrick July 30, 1940 2,391,871 Benson Jan. 1, 1946 2,400,700 McCurrach May 21, 1946 

